Meter for vehicle parking



Dec. 22, 1936. H. s. JOHNS I METER FOR VEHICLE PARKING Fil ed Oct. 25, 1955 a Sheets-Sheet 1 wwyiwi ATTQRNEY.

25 FF FFFFFEriiii Dec. 22, 1936.

H. S.-JOHNS METER FOR VEHICLE PARKING Filed Oct. 23, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 22, 1936. s, JOHNS 2,065,075

METER FOR VEHICLE PARKING Fil'ed Oct. 23, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 v 1?. 1H. r 6., f :lU 1 I Patented flee. 22, 1936 UNITED STATES- PATENT orrics 2,065,075 METER Foa VEHICLE PARKING Herman S. Johns, Oklahoma City, Okla assignor to Dual Parking Meter Company, Oklah City, Okla., a corporation of Delaware Application October 23, 1935, Serial No. 46,318

6 Claims. (01. 194-1) My invention relates to meters, and more particularly to time controlled coin operated meters forcollecting for vehicle parking and the like.

The prime object of the present invention is the provision of a device of this class which is simple in construction, may be cheaply manufactured,- and utilizes a coin for the purpose of indicating elapsed and unelapsed parking time.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a device in which the coin operates no mechanism,

but merely acts as an indicator for various points upon a stationary scale; which is durable; and, which will be efficient in accomplishing all the g5 purposes for which it is intended...

more fully appear hereinbelow, my invention consists in the construction, novel features, andcombination of parts hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claims hereto appended, and illustrated in the accompanying threesheet drawings, of which,

Figure l is a perspective view partially in sec tion showing the housing of the device;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the clock mechanism for driving the device and disclosing the opening for receiving the coin receptacle;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the coin receptacle;

Figure. 4 is an elevational view disclosing a housing with graduations of slightly different type than those shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 5 is an elevational sectional view of the .housing showing the driving mechanism in operative position and showing the head portion of the housing installed upon the base portion;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary detail partially in section showing the driving connection between V With these and other objects in view as will.

Figure 11 is an elevational view of the upper portion of the housing showing graduations in fractions of hours instead of in minutes;

Figure 12 is a fragmentary view of a different embodiment of housing and disclosing graduations in fractions of hours and disposed in a horizontal plane; and,

Figure 13 is a fragmentary'elevational view 0 a different type of housing and disclosing a coin presented to view through an arcuate window.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in all the figures.

It is understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size, shape, weight and other details oi? construction, within the scope of my invention may be resortedto without departing from the spirit or broad principle of my inven tion and without sacrificing any of the advan tages thereof; and it is also understood that the drawings are to be interpreted as being illustrative and not restrictive.

The inventive idea involved is capable of re ceiving a variety of mechanical expressions one oi which, for the purpose of illustrating the in, vention, is shown in the accompanying drawings Wherein:=-

The reference numeral 5 indicates as a whole a head which is adapted to receive a coin 2 through either one of a pair of coin slots 3. housing is provided with a pair of alined vertical windows a of glass or other transparent materiai. The head i at its lower end is provided with a hollow sleeve portion 5'which fits over a hollow post 6 which houses a gear train or clock mechanism l which is adapted to be driven by a coil spring 8 engaged at its lower end with a drive shaft 8. The head i adapted to be locked in place upon the post 6 by a suitable locking means Thev 10 which is preferably 'weather-proofed by a pivotally mounted lid I i.

a The windows 4 are spaced apart sufficiently to barely permit the passage .therebetween of the coin 2 from the slots 3 downwardly. 'Above the clock mechanism 1 is provided a hollow casing I! which has an opening 13 in its upper end for receiving a coin receptacle M which is provided with an upper flange 15 for fitting over the edge of the opening l3. The coin receptacle i5 is provided at its upper end with a slot which has a flared upstanding lip I 6 surrounding it for receiving the coin after it passes downwardly below the windows 4. The coin slot in the receptacle is so designed that a coin may pass downwardly into the receptacle but, cannot be removed from the receptacle through the slot. The receptacle has an opening I! for removing coins therefrom and this opening is adapted. to be covered by a suitable gummed seal l8.

The shaft 9 passes upwardly through the easing 12 and is surrounded bya tube It which is driven to rotation at a uniform speed by the spring 8 and the gear train I. The shaft 9 may be wound in order to place a driving tension upon the spring 8 by the use of a crank 20 (Fig. 10) which may be inserted in a socket 2| in the upper end of the shaft 9 when the head I is removed.

Surrounding the upper portion of the casing I2 is an annular projection 22 the lower surface of which is beveled downwardly to form a watertight seal with the upper end of the post 6, which is similarly beveled.

The lower end of the head i is closed by a bottom .23 which is bored to receive a bearing 24 adapted to be held in place by a pair of set screws 25. The bearing acts as a journal for the lower smooth portion 26 of a shaft 21 the upper end of which is journaled in the body of the head I at the point indicated by the reference numeral 51. Intermediate the ends of the shaft its body is formed of spiral threads 28 which are preferably formed by twisting a rod which is square in cross-section. The space between the two window panes 4 is open to the portion 28 of the shaft so that a coin between the windows will be engaged by the shaft and as the shaft is rotated will be moved downwardly at a uniform speed.

As a means for forming a driving connection between the tube l9 and thelower end of the spiral shaft a plurality of splines or alternating grooves and ribs 28 are provided around the lower end of the shaft. This splined portion occurs below the bearing surface of thebearing 24 and when the head is in place projects into the upper end of the tube IS. A strap-like spring 30 having a point 3| upon its free end ispositioned by any suitable means such as screws or the like upon the exterior of the tube i9 and at the point where the splines occur upon the shaft 21 the tube is provided with a through notch or aperture whereby the point 3| of the spring may project inwardly through the tube and engage the splined portion 29 of the shaft 21. This permits the driving engagement of the tube It! with the shaft regardless of the radial positions in which the two rest at the time the head is installed upon the post.

At the side of the window lying opposite to the spiral shaft 21, the bottom 23 is bored upwardly to receive a removable rod 32 which is notched arcuately at its lower end as indicated by the reference numerals 33 so that a screw 34 may engage any of the notches 33 to not only hold the rod against longitudinal movement but also to hold it against rotation. The rod is provided with longitudinal grooves 35, 38, and 31 which are spaced radially around the periphery of the rod and each of which is of a different length from the others. These notches are provided for the purpose of permitting the coin 2 to gravitate a desired distance downwardly along the rod before the bottom of the grooves are reached and the coin is forced laterally into engagement with the spiral portion of the shaft .21. The groove 36 and its association with the spiral portion 28 of the shaft 21 is shown in detail in Fig. 7.

These grooves 35, 35, and 31 are provided for the purpose of permitting the device to be adjusted to accommodate various periods of time for parking. In other words, if the rod 32 is rotated and positioned in such a manner as to bring the groove 35 next adjacent the coin passage between the windows, a coin may drop to the bottom of the groove without contacting the spiral portion 28 of the shaft but when the bottom of the groove is reached the coin will be forced by gravitation laterally and downwardly into contact with the spiral and from then on it will be lowered at a speed governed entirely by the speed of rotation of the spiral shaft 21. It may be seen that since the groove 35 is the shorter of any of the grooves that a coin may drop approximately one-fourth of the length of the windows. Considering that the windows are made of a length and that the shaft 21 is driven at a proper speed to convey the coin the entire length of the window in one hour, for instance, if the coin drops one-fourth of that distance before it is engaged by the spiral shaft only three-quarters of the hour will be left in which the coin would be visible through the window. Therefore the rod 32 would be set in this manner if the device were to be placed in a minute parking zone. If it were to be placed in a thirty minute zone the rod 32 would be rotated and positioned in such a manner as to bring the groove 36 next adjacent the coin passage. Similarly, if in a fifteen minute zone the groove 31 would be turned toward the coin passage. In places where a full hour parking limit is allowed a smooth portion of the rod 32 would be turned toward the coin passage and therefore the coin would be forced into engagement with the spiral shaft at the instant it struck the upper end of the rod. It would therefore be visible through the window for the full period of an hour.

In Fig. 1 a portion of the sleeve portion 5 of the head i is broken away to disclose a portion of the upper ends of the post 6 and casing i2, and also disclosing a screw 38 carried by the casing i2 and adapted to be screwed outwardly and into the post 6 in order to hold the casing l2 therein.

As may best be seen in Figs. 2 and 8, the upper end of the casing i2 is equipped with a horizontal groove 42, and the lock element I0 is equipped with a pivoted tongue 33 which may be turned with a key, not shown, into and out of the groove for locking the head I in place upon the post 6.

In Fig. 5 has been illustrated the rod 32 for making it possible to utilize the coin as an indicator for various periods of parking time. In Fig. 1 graduations 40 have been shown to cover various periods of time ranging from five to sixty minutes. The same is true of the graduations shown in Fig. 4 although these graduations have been arranged in a slightly different manner.

It might, however, be found desirable to eliminate the grooves in the rod 32 and to drive the spiral shaft at various speeds for various parking zones so that the coin would be engaged by the spiral shaft at theupper end of the window, and would travel the entire length of the window even though the parking time in that particular were only fifteen minutes or even less. For such a condition the graduations 43 which are disclosed in Fig. 11 have been designed. In this embodiment the graduations indicate a percentage or part of the permitted time instead of representing minutes of time. h

In Fig. 12 is illustrated a housing having a horizontally disposed window 5| with graduations 52 each of which represents a portion or fraction of the time required for the coin 2 to travel the length of the window. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 13 an arcuate window 53 is carried by a housing 54, and graduations 55 act to indicate the portion of the length of the window which has been traversed by the coin.

The enclosed mechanisms for propelling the coin across the windows of the last two embodiments will of course be different from that disclosed in Fig. 5.

In assembling the device, the casing l2 and gear train I will be inserted within the post 6 v and the screw 38 will be tightened. The coin receptacle 14 will then be placed in the opening l3 of the casing l2. The crank 20 will next be placed in engagement with the socket 2| in the upper end of the shaft 8 and the shaft will be rotated to wind the driving spring 8. Since the length of the post 6 is not limited, the shaft 9 and spring 8 may be made of substantially any lengths, and the spring could be designed to op erate the gear train 1 for a period of as much as thirty days if desired. After the spring has been wound the rod 32 is next installed in a desired radial position and fastened in such position by the set screw 34. The head I is then placed upon the post with the lower splined end 29 of the shaft 21 being inserted within the tube or hollow shaft l9 so that the spring 3| may engage the portion 29. The Head is then locked in place by the locking mechanism l0, and the device is then in condition for operation.

It is thought that operation of the device may readily be understood from the above description, since the only action required of the operator is the insertion of a coin of the proper denomination. It may be well to state, however, that the distance between the adjacent faces of the spiral shaft 21 and the rod 31 is barely sufii-,

cient to permit the passage of a coin of certain size, and that a smaller coin will drop directly into the receptacle ll without being engaged by the spiral shaft.

If the coin passage is disposed vertically or at an angle of sumcient pitch to cause the coin to gravitate therein, cnly a slight portion of the edge of the coin need be engaged by the conveyor, and the conveyorthen will act as an agent to retard downward movement of the coin. How-.

ever, if the coin is to be moved horizontally or upwardly by the conveyor, a greater portion of its edge must be engaged bythe conveyor in order to prevent the coin from binding in the passage.

It is possible to use miter gears upon the adjacent ends of the shaft l9 and the conveyor 21 in order to adapt the conveyor for use along a horizontally disposed coin passage.

Since the two windows 4 and the two windows 5i and the two windows 53 are alined, respectively, the position of a coin in the passage between them may be distinguished for a considerable distance.

Obviously, the invention is susceptible of embodiment in forms other than that which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described herein, and applicable for'uses and purposes other than as detailed, and I therefore consides as my own all such modifications and adaptations and other uses of the form of the device herein described as fairly fall within the scope of my invention. 7

Having thus described my invention, what is means for driving the shaft at a uniform speed, a

coin receiving passage in the head having a transparent wall, a spiral conveyor journaled in thehead, extending along the passage and adapted to engage a coin therein for permitting its movement along the passage, and operative connections between the shaft and the conveyor.

2. In a device of the class described, a housing including a hollow head and a hollow base, a hollow shaft extending upwardly through the top of the base, means for driving the shaft at a uniform speed, a vertically disposed coin receiving passage in the head having a transparent wall, a spiral conveyor journaled in the head extending along the passage adapted to engage a coin therein and control its downward movement along the passage, means for engaging the coin with the conveyor at various points along the passage, and operative connections between the shaft and the conveyor.

3. Organization as described in claim 2, in which the second named coin engaging means includes, a radially adjustable rod parallel with the conveyor and extending along the opposite side of the passage therefrom, said rod being spaced from the conveyor a distance equal substantially to the diameter of said coin, and having a plurality of radially spaced sloping bottomed longitudinally extending grooves of different lengths whereby a coin may pass for a distance along one of the grooves without contact with the conveyor, and will be forced laterally into contact with the conveyor whe'n the bottom of the groove is reached.

4. In a device of the class described, a housing including a hollow head and a hollow base, a hollow shaft extending upwardly through the top of the base, means for driving the shaft at a uniform speed, a vertically disposed ,coin receiving passage in the head and having a transparent wall, a spiral conveyor journaled in the head extending along the passage adapted to engage a coin therein and control its downward movement along the passage, operative connections between the shaft and the conveyor, and means within the shaft for winding the shaft driving means.

' 5. Organization as described in claim 4, in which the last mentioned means includes a rotatable spring winding shaft within the hollow shaft having a socket in its upper end, the last mentioned shaft being connected at its lower end to a spring for actuating the driving means, and means for engaging the socket and rotating the winding shaft to put tension upon the spring.

6. Organization as described in claim 1, and marks along the passage for indicating the portion of the length of the passage which has been traversed by the coin.

. HERMAN S. JOHNS. 

